More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)

Edward V

(1470–83?)King of England from April to June 1483; son of *Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. The beginning and end of his short life reflected alike the violence of the times. He was born in the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey where his mother had taken refuge when his father was briefly deposed. Two months after his own accession to the throne, in 1483, a preacher at St Paul's argued that his father's marriage had been invalid, that Edward was therefore a bastard and that the rightful heir was his father's younger brother Richard, duke of Gloucester. Three days later (June 25) an assembly at Westminster invited the duke to take the crown, which he did as *Richard III (see the *royal house). The 12-year-old Edward and his younger brother were last seen in the Tower of London, and the fate of the two *princes in the Tower has been a matter of conjecture ever since.